Big signing expected for Toronto

I had an interesting chat with Howard Goldberg, a Florida-based agent watching Real Salt Lake’s training session Monday morning. He was there watching Colombian central defender Julian Barragan train with RS for the day. Barragan is en route to Canada for a trial with Toronto FC, and RSL agreed to let him loosen his legs with them. Afterward, he said he was very impressed with the technical ability of the team.

The real news was who would be accompanying Barragan to Toronto. Joao Pinto, who played for the Portuguese National Team in the 2002 World Cup, is on his way to sign a contract with Toronto FC according to Goldberg. He said the contract was on the table, which would seem to be a great signing for Toronto. He’s flying into Miami tonight at 11:30 p.m., and will be heading to Toronto on Tuesday morning. Pinto is a 36-year-old striker who was part of Portugal’s “Golden Genertaion.”

Goldberg also said another one of his players, Fernando Ayala ‘ a 20-year-old who was a member of the Under-17 National Team under John Ellinger in 2003 ‘ will begin a trial with the Colorado Rapids today here in Florida. He’s confident he’ll make the team. Ayala spent time in South America and Croatia in the past two years.